diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e3eb88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Secrets - NEVER copy to image
+.env
+.env.*
+!.env.example
+
+# Python
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+*.so
+
+# Virtual environments
+.venv/
+venv/
+env/
+
+# Test artifacts
+.pytest_cache/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+htmlcov/
+coverage.xml
+.mypy_cache/
+.ruff_cache/
+
+# Database
+*.db
+*.db-journal
+*.db-wal
+data/
+
+# IDE
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# Logs
+*.log
+logs/
+
+# Git
+.git/
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Documentation (not needed in image)
+docs/
+*.md
+!README.md
+
+# Docker files themselves
+Dockerfile*
+docker-compose*.yml
+.dockerignore
+
+# Test directory (not needed in production image)
+tests/